LOUISVILLE, Ky. — A new report on Louisville housing outlines challenges facing the city as leaders pledge to add thousands of affordable housing units.

What You Need To Know

  • Jefferson County faces an affordable housing shortage, with its growing population outpacing the number of affordable units 

  • A report recommends more middle housing such as condo-style homes, duplexes and triplexes 

  • A zoning map of Jefferson County shows most residential neighborhoods are zoned only for single-family homes

Northern Kentucky University's Center for Economic Analysis and Development released a wide-ranging report that advocates for more middle housing or condo-style homes, duplexes and triplexes.

Elizabeth Strojan, executive director of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority, works to help lower-income families find homes in Louisville.

“I consider LMHA to be the backbone of affordable housing in Louisville for residents with the lowest income,” Strojan said. "We’re helping to achieve the goal of new housing through our project-based voucher program. That’s a Section 8 voucher that’s tied to the unit that helps new affordable homes."

Mayor Craig Greenberg, D-Louisville, has vowed to build or revitalize 15,000 affordable units, which is half the estimated shortage in Jefferson County. The 2024 State of Metropolitan Housing Report shows Jefferson County’s population growth is outpacing the growth of affordable housing units, and it recommends more middle housing.

“Middle housing is such a crucial part of the housing puzzle because when any piece is missing, what happens is people filter down," Strojan said. "If you don’t have housing that is appropriate for you, you’re going to take the cheaper option, which takes up a space that somebody of lower income needs." 

A zoning map of Jefferson County shows most residential neighborhoods in the city are zoned only for single-family homes. Over the last several years, Greenberg has advocated changing zoning rules, therefore allowing for more multi-family home construction to address the shortage.

“We’re also working to preserve the housing that we own and to redevelop what needs to be redeveloped into better housing just like we did at Beecher Terrace,” Strojan said. 

The Metropolitan Housing Coalition added the number of new building permits for all types of homes experienced a significant drop in 2020 amid the COVID-19 pandemic but have increased in Jefferson County every year since.

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